The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) from enforcing disparate impact regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in the state, a move that stops the federal government from addressing disparate harm in project permitting, compliance and enforcement of environmental laws, as well as provision of basic services such as sewage, drinking water, and health services.

The ruling, issued on August 22, makes permanent a preliminary injunction and represents a significant setback for civil rights and environmental justice in Louisiana. Although the ruling is limited to Louisiana, it may embolden other states to seek similar exceptions and create a chilling effect on civil rights enforcement by other federal agencies.

“Louisiana has given industrial polluters open license to poison Black and brown communities for generations, only to now have one court give it a permanent free pass to abandon its responsibilities,” said Earthjustice Vice President for Healthy Communities Patrice Simms. “Louisiana’s residents, its environmental justice communities, deserve the same Title VI protections as the rest of the nation.”

The ruling comes as EPA unveiled new Title VI guidance to ensure that state and local government entities receiving federal funding put safeguards in place that prevent discrimination in their programs and activities. The guidance still applies in Louisiana but recognizes it does not apply to disparate and cumulative impacts. Title VI prohibits federal grants recipients from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin.

In January 2022, Earthjustice filed a complaint on behalf of St. John the Baptist Parish residents asking the EPA to investigate whether Louisiana agencies had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Black communities from disproportionate environmental harm.

In May of 2023, Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry (now governor) sued EPA to stop the federal government from investigating civil rights complaints by communities of color subjected to disproportionate harm. Nearly a month later, the EPA closed the years-long civil rights investigation in St. John — a historically Black community with some of the highest cancer rates from toxic air pollution in the country — without relief to its residents. Oral arguments in Louisiana’s lawsuit took place on January 9, and the Court issued a preliminary injunction in late January.